Specifically, Western Digital’s subsidiary HGST will be buying sTec. But the deal will give Western Digital — long known for its magnetic hard drives — more clout in the quickly booming SSD sector.

While Western Digital has a notable edge in consumer products, this move is more about bulking up its presence in the enterprise. Data centers and big companies across the globe are lining up to add SSD storage, and WD wants to be part of the movement.

“Solid state storage in the enterprise will play an increasingly strategic role in the future of Western Digital,” Western Digital CEO Steve Milligan said in a canned statement. “This acquisition is one more building block in our strategy to capitalize on the dramatic changes within the storage industry by investing in SSDs and other high-growth storage products.”

Western Digital expects the deal will close in the third or fourth quarter of 2013.